Geauga Family Farms CSA–week 17

CSA No Responses »
Oct 042011
 

We picked up week 17 of our Geauga Family Farms CSA today.  Andrew was on vacation, so we were greeted by Sarah.  The set up was a little different, but the pick up was smooth.  We have a nice routine.  We go into the store, get a cart, stop by for a sample of pineapple, buy anything we need (usually yogurt, cheese, bananas or the like), use a reusable bag, get two wooden nickels, let the kids color, get our veggies, and then leave.  It works for us and both Nick and Sally look forward to our CSA pickup at “The Little Whole Foods”.

Today’s box was lighter than the last few.  We didn’t have any melon or squash.  Here’s a group shot:

IMG_6139

You might be wondering about the dark wooden background.  We didn’t get a new table.  But, our kitchen table where I usually take the photos looks like this.

IMG_6124IMG_6111

I picked up 2 bushels of pears from Eddy’s on Monday. They aren’t quite ripe enough to can. So, our table was out of commission. Nick and Sally had a picnic breakfast today. Nick wants to have one everyday. I don’t think that will happen. They ate raisins, graham crackers and pears. By lunch time, I had put away enough stuff from our vacations that they used the dining room table.  Since that space was clean, I used it to take the CSA photos today also.

Let’s take a closer look at the veggies.

Collards, leaf lettuce

IMG_6118IMG_6121

Romaine, bell peppers

IMG_6123IMG_6126

Tomatoes, garlic

IMG_6127IMG_6128

Poblano peppers, onions

IMG_6129IMG_6131

Apples, green beans

IMG_6132IMG_6133

Sweet potatoes

IMG_6134

I was in Hawaii two weeks ago and I was also out of town most of this past week.  I’m feeling a bit out of the loop on the CSA.  I am glad that this is an easier week.  I’m going to make some stuffed collard wraps with the collards.  The lettuce, bell peppers and probably tomatoes will go in salads.  If we don’t use the tomatoes up, I’ll freeze them.  I have some others frozen and will make sauce or chili with them soon.   I have Stayman (tart) apples from Delaware to use up and will mix these apples with them for sauce.  The green beans will be an easy side dish.  I’ll probably freeze the onions, other peppers and garlic.  For the sweet potatoes, I’ll probably slice them for sweet potato fries.  Everyone in my house likes them and with the cooler temperatures, the oven sounds more appealing these days.

It’s hard to believe that it’s October already!  I’m excited for the upcoming winter CSA season.

U-Pick Tour–Eddy Fruit Farm, Chesterland Ohio–Apples

U-Pick 2 Responses »
Oct 032011
 

Last Tuesday, the kids and I had a date with friends to pick apples in the morning.  The friends had to cancel due to illness.  We made a date with other friends in the afternoon.  They also had to cancel.  Since I had promised the kids that we would go picking.  We went picking at Eddy Fruit Farm.

IMG_5805

When you arrive and check in, there is a map on the table that shows what apples are ready, the type of apple and where they are located.  You decide what you want and drive to the correct place.  We were leaving for vacation on Wednesday, so I knew we had to take the apples with us. I planned to make applesauce at my sister’s house and we picked accordingly.  We ended up with early Jonathan, Macoun, and Golden Delicious.

IMG_5807IMG_5808IMG_5810IMG_5816

IMG_5811IMG_5813

When you are done picking, you put the apples on the scale and they tell you how much you owe.  We picked about 23 pounds.  We paid $20.70.

IMG_5823

Then, I saw this sign!

IMG_5824

At $20 per bushel, I was very tempted.  But, I couldn’t take pears home since I was leaving on vacation the next morning.  They offered to keep them in their cooler for me.  Sold!  Two bushels of pears were picked up this morning and I’m now working on canning them.

Geauga Family Farms–week 15

CSA No Responses »
Sep 202011
 

Hi, there! My role here at Life Lyn Style is usually limited to the background, but with Lyn enjoying herself in a tropical paradise, it is up to me (her loving husband) to share what we found in our Geauga Family Farms CSA today. The harvest season is upon us, with the bountiful crop we found in the box today.

First off, here is the group shot. I’ll bet we could measure how big the week’s harvest is by how high we have to hold the camera to take this picture. The camera was pretty close to the ceiling today.

IMG_5867

“I’m ready for my closeup,” cried the kale, and I was happy to oblige.

Red Russian kale, bok choy

IMG_5856IMG_5842

Garlic, sweet potatoes

IMG_5828IMG_5834

Apples (mixed varieties), carrots

IMG_5837IMG_5843

Parsley (mix of flat leaf and curly), green beans

IMG_5845IMG_5848

Red leaf lettuce, onions

IMG_5850IMG_5857

Bell peppers, little peppers (I don’t know yet if they are hot)

IMG_5854IMG_5851

Eggplant, yellow squash

IMG_5872IMG_5873

Tomatoes

IMG_5875

Using this up with Lyn away is going to be a challenge. My cooking skills have rusted a bit in recent years, with the grill more my specialty than the stove is. The parsley says “tabouli”, which could use some tomato and onion as well. The kale and bok choy I will saute, with some balsamic vinegar for the kale and some sesame oil for the bok choy. We will surely have some delicious salads as well.

Thanks for visiting! Lyn will be back tomorrow.

U-Pick Tour–Eddy Fruit Farm, Chesterland Ohio–Plums, Apples and Grapes

U-Pick No Responses »
Sep 122011
 

Today, we made a spur of the moment trip to Eddy Fruit Farm.  I happened to read on Facebook that they were having pick your own plums and they wouldn’t last long.  I called some friends and we met them at the farm at 4PM.  We never go picking in the afternoon, but today it worked.  The weather was great and Eddy’s is only 15 minutes from our house in Mayfield Heights.  They are the closest farm to our house with pick your own.

They are just south of Wilson Mills Road on Caves Road.  The photo on the left is the corner where you turn and the photo on the right is the entrance to the farm.

IMG_4923IMG_4924

Nick and Sally both sampled a plum.  I never saw plums growing before so I enjoyed this picking experience.

IMG_4925IMG_4928

While we were there, we picked a few apples.  Akane is the variety that happened to be close by.  They are a somewhat tart variety.

IMG_4930IMG_4931

We didn’t pick too many since I still had apples at home to process into applesauce.  After the apples, we checked out the grapes.  The netting is to keep the birds away.  These are sweet reliance grapes.  They are seedless and I think were also past their prime.

IMG_4932IMG_4933

The kids were fascinated with the netting and the grapes.

IMG_4935IMG_4936

We returned to the market to pay for our bounty.  We also bought a few pears.  We ended up with about 5.5 pounds of plums, 5.5 pounds of apples and 2 pounds of grapes.  At 90 cents a pound, we paid $11.75.  In addition our pears were $6.  It’s hard to turn down your kids when they are begging you for fruit.

IMG_4937IMG_4938

I’m thinking I’ll try a batch of jam with the plums.  I’m sure everyone will enjoy eating a few along with the grapes.  I’m mixing these apples in with my applesauce now.  I hope they aren’t too tart since I don’t put sweetener in my sauce.

IMG_4939IMG_4940

I suspect we’ll have more apple picking when I return from vacation.  We’ll probably miss concord grapes since they are just coming into season now.  Next time we pick grapes, I need to bring a snippers or scissors, it will be much easier.

I’m off to check on the applesauce!

U-Pick Tour–Patterson Fruit Farm, Chesterland Ohio–Apples

U-Pick No Responses »
Sep 102011
 

Today, I had a date with my good friend Theresa to go apple picking.  We made a last minute date yesterday when she heard me say “Honey Crisp”.  We headed out to Patterson Fruit Farm.  Despite the rainy day, we were greeted by two friendly people manning the tent.  There were U-Pick Crest Haven peaches today as well, but we were there for apples.

IMG_4869IMG_4870

The apples here are priced on a scale based on how many you pick.  This sign aside, Honey Crisp were advertised at $1.50 a pound.  For reference, honey crisp are the most expensive apple.  They were $2.29 at Giant Eagle today (and they weren’t just picked off a local tree.)

IMG_4871IMG_4872

The Honey Crisp apples were just a short walk from our car.  When we saw the water, we were extra glad to have our garden shoes and boots on.  It really wasn’t too bad.  It was just sprinkling when we actually picked and we had about 30 pounds of Honey Crisp apples from just a few trees.

IMG_4873IMG_4874

IMG_4876IMG_4877

After we Honey Crisp, we headed over to the Gala apples.  This was actually the Buckeye Gala apple.  We quickly picked about 40 pounds and then headed back to the tent to settle up.  Because we had 70 pounds total and a mix of the apples, they were priced at 95 cents a pound.  It worked out great.  If you go with a group of people to pick, you should pay together since that way you get the best overall price.  Patterson’s provides bags for picking and they hold quite a few pounds of apples.

IMG_4879IMG_4921

The darker smaller red apples are the Gala and the other larger apple is the Honey Crisp.

IMG_4920IMG_4922

After picking, we drove up to the market on Caves Road.  We purchased apple fritters and donuts for the family and headed home.  It was fun, short outing.  Apple picking will last about 5 weeks depending on the farm, weather, crowds, varieties, etc.  We plan to pick a few more times before the season ends.

Fresh Fork CSA–week 13

CSA 1 Response »
Aug 252011
 

We picked up our Fresh Fork CSA today.  In addition to our regular “small”, we also picked up the items from our vacation credit.  We were off week 10.

Here’s what we were expecting to receive this week:

Small CSA:

  • 1 yellow doll watermelon
  • 2 ct. eggplant, some mixed colors may be included
  • 1 quart hot Hungarian peppers
  • 1 lb. clover honey
  • 1 medium cantaloupe
  • Approx. 1 lb. heirloom tomatoes (about 1 large or 2 small)
  • 2 summer squash
  • 1 pint mixed baby sweet peppers
  • Quarter Peck Golden Supreme apples (about 5 to 6 apples, very crisp, yellow apple)
  • Approx. 1 lb. slicing tomatoes

Here’s a group shot:

IMG_4468

I’m going to make my favorite cole slaw recipe and it uses a couple of apples.  The rest will probably go into my oatmeal and/or be made into a quick applesauce for the kids.  We also got eggplant on Tuesday, so I think I’ll be making a veggie lasagna tomorrow.

IMG_4451IMG_4452

I’m not sure about the squash.  If it doesn’t end up in the lasagna, we’ll probably grill it.  All of the tomatoes are going into sauce since I have a stock of them from Tuesday’s CSA as well.

IMG_4456IMG_4473

The sweet peppers will get added to my sauce.  I’m never sure what to do with the hot ones.  I don’t like to make things that aren’t kid friendly (and Lyn friendly).

IMG_4453IMG_4459

I don’t cook with refined sugar, so we use lots of honey.  I’m excited to try the clover honey that we received.

IMG_4462IMG_4457

Yum!  We are certainly enjoying our local melon this year.  I’m curious to try the watermelon since it’s “yellow” and I’m not sure what to expect.

IMG_4460IMG_4461

In addition to our share above, we had $25 to spend on items from the on-line store since we were on a planned vacation a couple of weeks back.  I decided on lettuce ($2.75), 2 cantaloupes ($3.60 ea.), 2 packages of Chorizo sausage ($12.40) and 2 quarts of yogurt ($9.90).  The total was $28.65, so I paid Robert $3.65 at the truck.

IMG_4472

It was fun to stock up on Chorizo and yogurt since we were out of both.  Neither of my CSAs received lettuce this week, so I was glad to have it as well.  I love the vacation flexibility with Fresh Fork!

 Newer Entries